HEC Montréal wins two trophies at the International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition

May 1, 2012

The team of HEC Montréal BBA students, consisting of Marie-Ève Audette, Juan Guillén, Justin Lacasse, Jean-François L'Écuyer and Bernard Piché, came out on top in their division at the 48th edition of the International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition (ICBSC), organized by California State University, Long Beach. The students took first place in the “Reports” category in their division and second place in the “Oral presentation” category. About 100 students from 20 schools (two in Canada and 18 in the United States) took part in the competition. The final round was held from April 19 to 21. Participants were divided into six “worlds” – three at the undergraduate level and three at the graduate level, each one with five or six teams.

The ICBSC is a business policy game in an international context. The lengthy competition began back in February and first ran over a period of 10 weeks, during which each team worked remotely. In this first phase they had to draw up and implement a business plan in a virtual environment. Then all the teams travelled to California for the final intensive round, in which they had to prepare an annual report and give an oral presentation to a jury simulating a board of directors.

This was the first time the School had entered this competition. The HEC Montréal team was coached by René Gendreau, Guest Professor (Marketing).

From left to right: Bernard Piché, Juan Guillén, Justin Lacasse, Marie-Ève Audette and Jean-François L'Écuyer.